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If you're trying to lose weight, it's important to keep track of how much you weigh. But can you ruin your attempt to get to a healthy weight by stepping on the scales too often?

Yes, says Keri Gans, RD, a nutrition consultant in New York City and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Weighing yourself every day, or multiple times a day, can become frustrating and sabotage your eating plan for a healthy weight.

"People get frustrated with the movement of the scale, and it might take them away from sticking with their plan," Gans says of individuals who hop on the scale frequently. "Especially if they see it going up one day — that could affect their sticking to their plan."

Scale Obsession and Healthy Weight

Research backs up Gans's assertion about healthy weight. One study of Minnesota junior high and high school students found that girls who frequently weighed themselves often resorted to unhealthy dieting tactics such as skipping meals, smoking, and using diet pills or laxatives to reach a healthy weight. Frequent self-weighers also tended to gain more weight than girls who did not weigh themselves that often.

The problem is that a person's body weight can fluctuate wildly day to day, and even hour to hour. "If you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, you're going to have a different weight than if you weigh yourself at 5:30 p.m.," Gans says. "You weigh less in the morning because you're on an empty stomach, and you're usually a little bit dehydrated."

What you eat also makes a difference. For example, if your meal the night before was high in sodium, you might be a little bloated, with water affecting the weight on the scale. In addition, women's menstrual cycles can play havoc with the amount of water they are retaining. These hormonal variations can cause the scale to tip in a way not reflective of your overall healthy weight.

How to Weigh Yourself Appropriately

"I recommend an individual weigh themselves once a week," Gans says. "Once a week is a good time to check in and see if the scale is moving in the desired direction." You should always weigh yourself at the same time on the same day so there's consistency in your measurements.

Stephanie Wiseman, 23, one of Gans's clients, finds that weighing herself regularly is a helpful tool in reaching a healthy weight. "It gives me a good gauge as to how I'm doing," says Wiseman. "If you're not losing, you need to switch something — like your diet or exercise."

However, she follows Gans's recommendation and doesn't weigh herself too often. "There's too much variation, depending on what you've eaten and the time of day," Wiseman says. "If you're not on track, you can get discouraged and not want to continue the plan that day. And when you're trying to eat healthy, it's a day-to-day commitment."

So stay focused, stay active — and stay away from the scale but once a week.